"Dory Previn's lyrics are first-rate poems,which is a rarity. Dory Previn is a poet and that is rarer still." ____Mike Nichols

Dory Previn

ON MY WAY TO WHERE

A moving and strikingly original group of
autobiographical lyrics dealing with child-
hood, marriage, love, loneliness, death and the
search for the inner self by the talented singer-
composer Dory Previn, who has brought new
strength, openness, and depth of feeling to
song-writing.

Written from the very center of the author's
experience, these songs have a vivid, vibrating
authenticity. In "the lady with the braid," she
asks: would you care to stay till sunrise / it's
completely your decision / it's just the night
cuts through me like a knife / would you care to
stay awhile and save my life?

In "for sylvia who killed herself in 1963,"
she writes: i have been / where sylvia's been /
she did not survive / came back / from where
she was / i'm still / half alive.

But as deeply personal as they are, her words
are universal, haunting the mind and engaging
the feelings, touching the nerve in everyone
who reads them. They are real. They hurt. And
they are very special.

"I have been an actress, model, and chorus girl,"
Dory Previn writes. "I've worked at odd jobs--
secretary, salesgirl, accounting in a filling station
(I have no aptitude for numbers), waitress, any-
thing to keep me going while I pursued my writing.Then once in California I was a junior writer
at MGM, a writer of cartoons for UPA studios,
free-lance, half-hours for TV, and ten title songs
for films, for which I've received three Academy
Award nominations. My biggest hobby is my writing--my vocation is also my avocation.

"After writing for ten years for films in a largely
objective way, I decided to write subjectively--
decided is not the right word--was compelled is
closer to it. I wanted to write a totally autobiographical set of popular songs. If I'd been a novelist, I'd have written a short story. I am
a lyric writer and composer; therefore there was
no other way in which to express what I wanted to
say about myself and my experiences and my
observations."

Born and brought up in New Jersey, Dory
Previn has lived for many years in California. Her
first LP album has the same title as this book, her
second was called Mythical Kings and Iguanas.
Both received rave reviews and songs from both-
together with many hitherto unrecorded lyrics-
are included in this book.